"Erza? Erza!" Gajeel shouted, feeling panic sink in as Erza didn't respond.
"Oh God," Levy gasped, covering her mouth as the rest of the group spotted the downed woman.

"Get Jellal!" Gajeel commanded, with more fear in his voice than he would have liked. Damn it! There's so much blood! And I can't feel a pulse at all! He cursed himself for not hearing the car approach, and for being too slow to jump in front of Erza before she got hit. She had come to help them, and now-he gulped, looking down at her limp body, her glassy eyes staring at nothing. He heard Wendy whimper quietly as Natsu wrapped his arms around her, shielding her from Erza's body in Gajeel's arms. What am I supposed to do?

He always knew what to do, at least he was always good at pretending he knew what to do. Especially when it came to protecting his cousins. But sitting there, with a dead woman in his lap, Gajeel was lost. He knew he should be acting, be taking charge of the situation and reassuring everyone, but he couldn't. Like a coward, he was frozen.

"Erza," Jellal's voice sounded too loud in the silent cabin. Gajeel frowned up at him when he didn't immediately rush to his wife. In fact, his face didn't show even the slightest hint of sadness on it. His brown eyes were emotionless, almost as dead as Erza's were.

When he sighed, Gajeel felt all of his bottled frustration and anger come out all at once. Before he could stop himself, he had laid Erza's body down and stood, going to Jellal. He grabbed him by the front of his shirt, picking him clear off the ground before deftly slamming him into the wall with a growl. He never lost his temper. With his strength, he couldn't afford to. But now, watching as Jellal showed no remorse for his fallen wife, Gajeel couldn't control it.

"Why the hell are you so calm?! Your wife is laying on the ground dead, you bastard," Gajeel snarled, "and you're not doing a damn thing to help her!"

"Gajeel-"

"If this is what Lily's organization is, you can count me the hell out. I'll have no part of something where the people involved don't even bat an eye when the people they supposedly love bleed out right in front of them!"

"Enough!" Jellal snapped. A painful surge of electricity came from the floor and shocked Gajeel. He released Jellal, taking a startled step backwards.

"Listen carefully, Redfox," Jellal said, fury burning deep in his brown eyes, "I would protect Erza over anyone else in this world, so don't let me ever hear you doubt that again. If you had remained calm for a moment longer, you have noticed the shallow breaths she had begun taking, and the fact that she is no longer bleeding. Her wounds were healing from the beginning, just slowly."

Before giving Gajeel a change to retort-to apologize, or to even look back at the woman he claimed wasn't in fact dead-he continued. "Erza is immortal, a gunshot wound isn't going to kill her. However, I have watched her die a hundred times over; this business is hard. There are dangers involved, and sometimes people die. It never gets easier watching her be injured, but I have accepted that sometimes this happens. Erza knows the risks as well, and even if I wanted to, there would be no talking her out of it."

"You can't tame a dragon so easily," came a weak chuckle from behind them.

Gajeel turned as Jellal smiled, his features instantly softening. "No, you can't. Take it from someone who has been trying for years."

Erza smiled at him, allowing Natsu to help her sit up. "Damn," she winced, "this was my favorite jacket."

"I'll buy you a new one as soon as we return to Scotland," Jellal told her, kneeling beside her and taking her hand. "How are the wounds?"

"I'll be down for a day or so. Once we reach Wales I should only need to rest the rest of the night before my body is repaired."

A beeping from the intercom system silenced everyone, and eyes immediately turned to Jellal and Erza for an answer. "Fernandez," Jellal answered.

"Jellal, I assume you all made it safely out?" Came Lily's voice.

"Erza was hit, so she'll be out of commission until tomorrow," Jellal answered, "but everyone made it out alive, yes. We have been in the air for nearly 20 minutes."

"That's good." Lily sounded relieved. "I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"What is it?" Jellal asked.

"We've been compromised here in Wales. I have intel from the inside that Etherios knows you're heading here with the new recruits, so I suspect he'll try to cut you off before you can reach me."

"Damn it," Gajeel cursed. These people were supposed to be helping them, but so far they had done nothing but put them all in more danger. Wendy grabbed his hand gently, looking up at him with a reassuring smile. Of course she would have read it mind. He scolded himself for allowing Wendy to hear his worry. Even if Lily and his organization couldn't, he would protect them all. Somehow.

"We'll have to make other arrangements for a safe house," Lily continued. "Stay in the air until then. I should have a new location set up in a couple of hours."

"What about my house?" Cana spoke up, her face significantly less pale then it had been earlier when everyone thought Erza was dead.

"What about it?" Jellal asked.

"Since Lily knows about all of our powers, I guess it's pointless to keep it hidden from everyone," Cana sighed before looking at Jellal. "I'm not the only one in my family with abilities. Actually, I come from a while family of darkness manipulators. A large family. And we live in a villa on the edge of the city because of our vineyard and winery. And we have plenty of spare bedrooms, so there would be room for everyone. What could be safer than a whole slew of darkness manipulating Italians?" She chuckled.

"Lily?" Jellal nodded, seeming to agree with Cana.

"It will do until Erza is in full health and other arrangements can be made," Lily confirmed. "I will meet you all there. I have a few loose ends to tie up here, so expect me there sometime tomorrow."

"Right." With that, the line went silent.

"Phone your family," Jellal instructed, handing Cana a cell phone. "Tell them we're coming. In just a few hours we'll be there."

"Will this work?" Cana asked, looking at the cellphone. They were flying over the middle of the ocean, nowhere near any cell towers.

Jellal just smirked, tapping the side of his head before picking up Erza and carrying her to the pilot's cabin to rest.

"Well, this has been interesting," Levy chuckled. While Cana called her family in Italy, everyone sat on the comfortable seats of the obviously-expensive private jet.

"Interesting isn't exactly the word I would use," Gajeel grumbled.

Levy placed her warm hand over his and smiled at him. "Erza getting shot wasn't your fault."

Again, Gajeel grumbled. How did she always know exactly what he was thinking? He was starting to suspect she had a power similar to Wendy's she wasn't telling anyone about. Wendy giggled at them, causing him to frown at her.

"What?" Levy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"So, your summoning powers," Natsu cut in before they could reply, "how do those work? Can you summon anything? Do you have to make like a blood-act with them or something?"

"Not most of the time," Levy explained. "With most spirits, they do the choosing. If they believe you to be worthy, they will reveal themselves to you, and then you may form a sort of pact. It is more like a relationship. One built of practice and trust. You must learn each other's ways, become one with their energy. Otherwise, the spirit won't be able to communicate with you, and you won't be able to communicate with them. It took Baghira and I years to perfect our," she paused, thinking of a word.

"Synchronization," Wendy said, "that's the English word."

Levy smiled, offering the girl a nod, "thank you. Synchronization."

"You can translate her thoughts?" Juvia asked.

"Once I hear a language in someone's thoughts, I can speak it," Wendy said, almost sounding embarrassed. "I've always been able to do that, so it must be a part of my power. The thoughts translate into Chinese firstly, since that's my native language, but I can speak several."

"That's amazing," Juvia said. "Juvia wishes she possessed that power."

"So you could learn Italian?" Lucy giggled, wiggling her eyebrows at the now scarlet-faced woman.

Apart from the teasing, the group spent the rest of the flight talking about their families-how they discovered their powers, if anyone else in their family had powers, and what they thought Lily had in store for them.

"Everyone fasten your seatbelts," Jellal's voice came over the intercom, "we're getting ready to land."

It was quiet until the landing was over, and Jellal and Erza entered the cabin with everyone. "We landed on a strip of private land owned by Lily," Jellal told them. "It's about an hour from Florence, so you'll sit in the front with me and direct the way to your house. Once we get there, I want everyone inside immediately, no dawdling. I will lead the way with Cana to make sure everything is clear, Wendy, Lucy, and Juvia will come next, followed by Gajeel who will be assisting Erza, and Natsu and Levy will bring up the rear. Is that clear?"

Everyone nodded, knowing better than to argue with "commander" Jellal. Erza mumbled something about not needing assistance as they made their way into-yet again-another black car, but Jellal either didn't hear her or was ignoring her.

The ride was silent, but it wasn't as tense as the one in Australia had been. Everyone stared out the windows at the scenery, taking it in as Jellal drove and Cana directed.

"You alright?" Gajeel asked Erza when they went over a particularly deep pothole and she winced.

"Fine," she muttered, gruffly. "Jus' a little sore. I was shot, ya know. Even an immortal needs ta rest after takin' a few bullets."

"I'm going to make sure no one else gets shot," Gajeel swore to her.

She smiled at him sadly, patting his leg. "Bullets are the least dangerous weapon we're going ta face out there."

"This is it," Cana called from the front, pointing to a large villa just up ahead. It was late into the evening now, and Gajeel could tell Jellal hated the disadvantage that left them all in.

"Alright everyone," he said when he parked the car, "remember your order."

He got out of the car with Cana, and the two of them made their way towards the house. Jellal's head returned to its miraculous swivel, his hand holding one of his guns at the ready, just in case.

Two figures suddenly appeared out of the shadows, catching even Jellal off guard as they tackled Cana, and she hit the ground with a startled cry.

{The wife FINALLY updated (I love you wife). So, Erzas ok! Cana? How knows. Well, we do. That's the fun part}